There is no doubt that the last two years have been hugely challenging in general practice. The Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact and has affected the day-to-day life of GPs and practice staff. Covid-19, almost overnight, changed the face of traditional consultations and raised a number of significant challenges from self-isolation and social distancing to safety and suitability of remote consultations.
Confidentiality remains central to the trust patients place in their doctors. The General Medical Council’s (GMC) confidentiality guidance highlights that it is a core element of the doctor/patient relationship and the centrepiece of general practice.
GPs have an ethical and legal duty to keep patients’ personal information confidential. These principles are set out in the GMC guidance, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 – law relating to contracts – and they are also under a common-law duty to preserve professional confidence. This duty goes beyond not revealing confidential information and includes a responsibility to ensure that any written patient information is kept securely.
